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NO COMPENSATION FOR DAVID BAIN

NO COMPENSATION FOR DAVID BAIN

David Bain's compensation bid has been turned down. The judge who assessed his case concluded that he is not innocent beyond reasonable doubt, therefore he cannot be eligible for compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

However, the Bain team indicated an intention to legally challenge Callinan's report, which has led the Ministry to make an unusual ex gratia payment of $925,000 in exchange for closure to the case and to prevent any further continuation of legal proceedings and government expense.

The New Zealand Establishment has made its final settlement and closing off further litigation no doubt believes it was cheap at the price. I no longer care about the sum of money involved as one reckons the long division sum in one's head as to how much each life cost, and as he goes through the ritual of his daily activities I just wonder how this man can live with himself and I have to put the question to him: David-was it worth it?

All the Hoo Ha over his alleged innocence has kept the issue alive and kicking and now we have the conclusion that should have been the case a long time ago. If he'd accepted the retrial verdict and just got on with it he would have been able to move on. We shouldn't care about whether or not it was worth it to David, who was convicted for murder in 1995, but care about what we are doing with our taxpayer money through the Justice system.

I would have thought the Government would have consulted with their legal department as to how much in the future it could have cost taxpayers had David Bain appealed the figure of $925k. My remark was mainly satirical as I'm sure many know he's guilty including David himself. We have our own David Bain here in the UK with Jeremy Bamber as some of you will know, but fortunately so far the Establishment's nerve has held and he is still behind bars.

But didn't Justice Goldberg in the White Industries case say the advice given by Callinan was an abuse of the court process? Wasn't any judgement on the Bain compensation bound to be controversial after Judith Collins rejected Binnie? On a separate issue I note that Dame Lowell Goddard is the third judge to resign from a child sex abuse enquiry here in the UK.

I would have thought the Government would have consulted with their legal department as to how much in the future it could have cost taxpayers had David Bain appealed the figure of $925k. My remark was mainly satirical as I'm sure many know he's guilty including David himself. We have our own David Bain here in the UK with Jeremy Bamber as some of you will know, but fortunately so far the Establishment's nerve has held and he is still behind bars.